Apparel
Showers Pass Gloves & Socks
Long term thoughts on Showers Pass waterproof gloves and a hack for their waterproof socks.
Menu
Let’s start off with the gloves. They look like your run of the mill knit glove, which isn’t a bad thing at all. The newest version comes in some good colors and a logo that isn’t quite as ridiculously big as those in the photo. The gloves are stretchy and pocketable. My hands get cold pretty easy and these have become a go to.
These are the gloves I wish were around when I grew up on the Oregon Coast. They really repel water and are pretty good to about 40ºF (4.5ºC).
I am guessing the knit itself is given a DWR treatment, but the real key is there is actually a double layer of knit with a plastic layer between. They are a great go to in a shoulder season where you throw an emergency jacket and gloves in a bar bag. They are not a full deep winter glove in my book, but my be possible to be underlayer for a thick outer glove.
When your hands get damp and clammy the gloves become harder to get on an off; but not impossible like a neoprene glove. Now I think these gloves are great for casual rides. However the stretchy nature may be a detriment in really intense conditions like cyclocross or XC. Where you need a tight grip on slick bars and you want a high degree of feel.
These are not the only gloves you will ever need. But they certainly will be in my repertoire for the foreseeable future.
Now lets talk about socks. I got these as a gift and thought they’d be great. But they sat in my drawer for a year because they were too thick. They changed the fit of my shoe too greatly, and I just could find an occasion to wear them.
Now in the mean time Showers Pass came out with a lightweight version, which I aim to try, but before I do I decided to try an experiment I heard about…
I love overstocks on road shoes. A breathable bit of insulation on dry days. And they keep the road grime off your kicks.
So I fit my Showers Pass over my road shoe, traced the cleat and made a fairly conservative cut hole (note: the fabric stretches a lot when you remove a section). I then singed the edge of the hole with a lighter to try and keep the layers together. Put it back on and voilà, waterproof oversock.
In my not-so-humble opinion these are a better product than the socks were intended. Not only do they keep your feet dry and warm, they keep your shoes dry too. Why does anyone want their shoes to get filled with muddy water? It’s just going to keep cold water absorbed in your shoe close to your foot. With a pair of water-resistant bib tights over the top of these oversocks I think you’d have a combo that could really get you through some harsh conditions. I have been using them for the past few weeks of winter training and couldn’t be happier.
I’d hesitate to do oversock hack over mountain shoes, I think the edges of the tread would quickly wear out the bottom. And time will tell how long until I walk a hole through the heel of these.
But at $38–$42 this is one of the better hacks I’ve done because this is about half the price of high quality winter booties.
Overall my only feedback, is why is this need to be a hack? The opportunity is just waiting. The sizing just needs to be adjusted a bit, my L/XL is a tight squeeze over my size 46 shoe. Maybe the knit type of knit and material refined for this use. But overall pleased.
Gloves: 9/10
Socks: 3/10
Socks as Oversocks: 8/10
Long term thoughts on Showers Pass waterproof gloves and a hack for their waterproof socks.
These aren’t really to replace thermal leg warmers but they are versatile and awesome.
